MASON CITY, Iowa — Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank needs your help! They are in competition in a national contest to win $20,000. The top 75 food banks in the nation will win a grant from Walmart. Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. on December 12, 2014. To vote, click here.

MASON CITY, Iowa – A local non-profit is lending a helping hand in order to learn more about our areas public transportation needs. United Way of North Central Iowa is teaming up with Region 2 Transit and Mason City Public Transportation for a new transit survey. It’s for everyone, no matter how much or how little you use public transit. Coordinator Barbara Belcher says it’s important for people to take the time to help.

“We need the public’s feedback to know what they need for transportation. What their needs, wants, times, days, and everything where transportation will help them better,” said Belcher.

MASON CITY, Iowa – It’s Election Day. Folks will be in and out of precincts today making their voices heard. Thousands of people in our area have already cast their ballots in this election by absentee. While it’s a convenient way to vote, it’s quite a process on the receiving end.

“I like to get it out of the way. I don’t have to worry about weather or lines and things like that,” says absentee voter, David Olsen.

He, along with many others, aren’t quite sure what happens after it’s handed over.

“I’m assuming it gets counted with everybody else’s at the end of the day,” says Olsen.

“It’s not uncommon for people, when they hand over their absentee ballot, to say what you do with this?” says Cerro Gordo County Auditor, Ken Kline.

He assures people that every ballot, absentee or not, is taken very seriously.

“First, we tell them we put it in a locked ballot box and then we seal it in a vault at night,” says Kline.

When the time comes for the ballots to be counted, absentee committee officials are sworn in and go to work. Officials go through the individual ballots to ensure that they have accounted for each one. Then, on Election Day, the ballots are scanned and added to the respective candidate’s total.

Not everyone is like Olsen though, there are always those who request a ballot, but don’t get it turned in in time.

“1000 ballots have still not come back,” says Kline.

It is Election Day, so it’s too late to put it in the mail, however, you do have other options. You can bring it into your local auditor’s office, in person.

“If we physically have in the office by the time the polls close, it is in time to be counted,” says Kline.

You can also go to your precinct and cast a provisional ballot, but Kline says that may take more time because he expects today to be a busy one.

“I think there’s more interest in this election. I think that U.S. Senate race is the defining race that’s driving people to the polls. That’s what we hear most people talk about,” says Kline.

It’s a process taken very seriously and it gives absentee voters, like David Olsen, peace of mind.

“I trust the people here, we have good, clean, elections and I’m just thankful for that,” says Olsen.

The number of absentee voters has increased tremendously in the last 20 years. Kline says, in that time, it has gone from 8 to 40 percent of overall ballots cast. He expects that number to continually increase.

For this election, you are required to vote at your designated precinct. If you are unsure where that is follow the link for your state.